Hoosier Huddle's Postseason Review: Special Teams Giveth and Taketh Away in 2022

Image: Zach Greene, Hoosier Huddle

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

After getting a chance to digest the season and go back and review some games, Hoosier Huddle is doing a full post-season evaluation of the Indiana Football program. Today, we look at the special teams and how the group performed in 2022.

The Indiana special teams unit had a roller coaster year. There were the highs like Charles Campbell’s game-winning kick against Western Kentucky and Jaylin Lucas’s two kickoff return touchdowns. However, there were lows too. IU had three field goals and two punts blocked and many of these special teams misfires lead to points for the opponents and losses.

Let’s take a look at this unit position by position:

Kickers

Charles Campbell- Campbell started the year off hot. He earned a Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honor and was twice named the Lou Groza Award Star of the Week. Over the Hoosiers first four games Campbell connected on eight field goals on nine attempts. However, as the year went on Campbell’s accuracy and consistency fell off.

Over the final eight games of the year Campbell only hit 6-of-11 field goals including having three blocked. This was the second year in a row in which Campbell struggled down the stretch. Campbell also handled some kickoff duties for IU in 2022. He had seven touchbacks on 12 kickoffs and was IU’s more reliable kickoff man.

Chris Freeman- Freeman was the Hoosiers main kickoff specialist. On 41 kickoffs, Freeman knocked 22 of them back for touchbacks. That percentage is a little low. He also had two kicks go out of bounds and attempted three on-side kicks unsuccessfully.

Alejandro Quintero- He did not play much as a junior college transfer, but he can handle all three duties. Quintero had one kickoff for a touchback. He should be a factor into the battle for both the kicking and kickoff jobs in 2023.

Punting

James Evans was the only Hoosier to punt this season and he had an outstanding sophomore campaign. Evans punted 69 times for an average of 44.3 yards a kick. He impressively pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 30 times and had 24 punts of over 50 yards.

While Evans enjoyed a bounce back year in 2022, there were some negatives. He had two punts blocked, three in his career. One of those blocks was returned for a costly touchdown against Nebraska.

Evans will be back for 2023 and should be a weapon again for the Hoosiers. The hope is though, that he won’t have to punt 69 times.

Punt Return

DJ Matthews- Matthews was not the playmaker many envisioned him to be returning punts. Due to an injury suffered on a punt return against Cincinnati, Matthews only played in nine games and had five return opportunities that gained 17 yards. In an effort to light a fuse in the return game, Matthews became largely irrelevant the rest of the season.

Connor Delp- Delp took over the punt return duties for Matthews after the injury and looked lost at times. Despite some decent returns, Delp would let too many punts bounce and fair caught balls that needed to be let go. He played in only eight games due to being suspended towards the end of the season.

Kick Return

Jaylin Lucas- The Hoosiers found their weapon in the return game in Lucas. He earned All-American honors as well as being named the Big Ten Returner of the Year after a huge 2022. Lucas returned 21 kicks for 591 yards and two touchdowns. He was so dangerous that teams started kicking away from him at the end of the year.

Omar Cooper Jr.- The Hoosiers wasted four games of Omar Cooper for four kick returns. Cooper was the return man to start the year, which was also head scratching. The former four-star wide receiver wasted a redshirt year without many reps at the position that IU sorely needed a playmaker. While he preserved his redshirt by playing only four games, he could have been more effectively used.

Josh Henderson- Henderson returned three kickoffs for 46 yards against Purdue thanks to the Boilermakers kicking away from Lucas. While he is not a long term answer at the return position as he will likely enter spring ball as the starting running back, Henderson did provide an adequate alternative when teams kicked away from Lucas.

Final Analysis

The Indiana special teams had more bright spots than most of the other units on the team, but it also had its issues. The Hoosiers will have to replace Charles Campbell, who transferred to Tennessee, in the place-kicking position and will need to figure out a second return man as teams will want to avoid Jaylin Lucas getting his hands on the ball.

IU brings in one of the top kicking recruits in the country in Nico Redicic and also have Alejandro Quintero on the roster. Whoever wins the job will be thrown into the fire quickly as IU opens against Ohio State.

The Hoosiers will need to find a reliable punt returner as well. It has been two seasons where IU lost its top choice as returner and did not have an answer at the position. The Hoosiers have to have better options next year if this aspect wants to be an asset.

James Evans returns and if his improvement continues, he should be one of the best punters in the conference. However, IU needs to figure out the protection because the Hoosiers can ill-afford anymore blocked punts in big spots.